her frustration that she couldn’t help me ... the loss of her life.
All for games?
All for her amusement.
Hell, maybe keeping the brat around was a good idea after all. I needed to kill someone more than ever, needed to unleash this violence before it ate me up inside.
Slamming down the handle to turn off the water, I grabbed a towel and stormed into my closet to grab some clothes. The brat was still calling for me, still struggling to free herself.
I didn’t bother answering. Didn’t trust myself not to kill her if I got anywhere near the bed.
“Callan! Please talk to me!”
I laughed. Talk? I was too close to the edge. Too near that precipice where I might make good on my threats. I could hurt her in so many ways, and she had no idea where my head was at the moment.
Stepping out of the closet, I watched her struggle. Enjoyed it. Maybe just a little too much.
“I’m sorry,” she cried.
Again with the apologies. I’d let her think on that for a while.
Snatching my phone from a table near the door, I left the room on aggravated steps. I hit speed dial to call the only person I trusted to deal with this situation.
“Callan. Please tell me you’re done beating my ass for the night. I just got in bed.”
“Well, get out of it. I need you up in the family suites.”
Unsure if it was my lethal tone of voice or the cryptic request, I swore I could hear Jacob shove up on the mattress, his exhaustion giving way to intense focus.
“Did you kill her? Are we burying a body? How bloody is it? I might need to change my clothes.”
My teeth gnashed together. “Just get the fuck up here.”
Hitting the button to end the call, I slipped my phone in the pocket of my athletic shorts and paced the floors until Jacob walked through the door, his expression hard, his stance ready to go to war.
“I need you to keep everybody out of my room. Whoever comes up here. Franklin, any of the fighters. Physically remove them if they try to get through my door.”
His brows tugged together, the usual humor in his eyes gone. “What did you do to her?”
“She’s tied up at the moment. A little ... exposed. Nobody can go in there. Not even you.”
“Damn it, Callan! Let me go!”
At the sound of her voice, Jacob’s posture relaxed, the thin line of his mouth curling up at the corners.
“So, wait, you’re telling me there’s a naked, and apparently pissed off, woman tied to your bed and you’re leaving me to watch her. Me?”
I shot him a look that promised pain. His smile slipped, but not by much.
“You’re the only person I trust not to go through that door.”
The comment sobered his humor. “I’ve got you, man. Go do what you need to. Nobody will get anywhere near her.”
And he would guard her. With his life. Jacob was a solid wall when he needed to be.
Nodding my head, I left the suite, my steps a heavy beat down the empty hall.
I had no idea where I was going or what I would do when I got there, but I knew I couldn’t be trusted around Lisbeth at that moment.
Not before a fight.
Not after what she told me.
Lisbeth
There was no light when my eyes cracked open. Just shadows on top of shadows, regrets swimming beneath them.
Still in the same position he’d left me, I attempted to shift my body, to make the sting on my wrists less painful. Everything I did only made it worse, the leather straps cinching tighter, a cold chill rushing over my naked skin that I had no means to protect.
I kicked at the mattress hoping it would shove me higher, but my heel only slipped on the silken bedding.
It was pathetic that even a comforter had the ability to defeat me.
My eyes flicked to the bedroom door.
For hours, a shadow had paced by it. I didn’t know if it was Callan or one of his guards, but the presence never left.
Except it wasn’t there now, the sentry gone, a familiar feeling creeping over my skin, causing goosebumps to prickle and my breath to catch in my lungs.
I always knew when Callan was watching.
Turning my head, I searched the room to finally spot his broad shoulders in a corner. He reclined in a chair, his feet kicked up on an ottoman. I couldn’t see his expression due to the darkness, but I knew